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Fresh Herb & Olive Oil ‘HERB-BOMBS’

There has been a ray of sunshine in my gardening endeavors this year – my edible landscape! I’ve had some herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage and basil survive the weather and the grasshoppers. Now given the fact that I won’t be harvesting & enjoying anything from my veggie garden soon, I’m sure having a blast experimenting with ways to fully use these aromatic herbs. I’d heard before about making ‘Flavor Bombs’ from various herbs and olive oil, so I figured I’d give it a try. Turns out I really like them!

UPDATE – Even though this post states that I didn’t invent this procedure but read about it somewhere in the past, I’ve been told I’m not allowed to call ’em Flavor Bombs for copyright reasons. So I guess from now on I’ll call them… Herb Bombs!

Here’s what I did: Early in the morning when the dew had just dried from the herbs I went outside to my front porch and gathered some stems – a few sprigs of rosemary, a small fistful of thyme, a stem of basil and a small stem of sage. I brought them inside, washed them and got to chopping.

Mincing Herbs

I minced the herbs as finely as I could, and I pulled out two cloves of garlic and minced them as well. Yes, I could have just pressed them with the garlic press but I figured that minced would offer the perfect texture I was looking for. Then I mixed all my minced herbs and garlic into a bowl and poured some extra virgin olive oil on top, stirring to mix everything together completely.

(deep breath) Oh my goodness that smells divine! And my mind is racing with all the things I might be able to flavor with it. My first thought is to use these Herb Bombs to flavor my brown rice since I typically saute the rice for just a few minutes in oil to intensify the rice flavor. Or maybe to light saute fresh garden veggies. But I’m sure there are many things these convenient flavored cubes would be great for!

Freezing The Herb Bombs

After I get everything mixed together I pulled out my ice cube tray. Those flimsy things you buy at the dollar store have always frustrated me. So I have these heavy duty *ice cube trays with covers. Turns out they work PERFECTLY for this! I drop about a tablespoon of my herb mixture into each ice cube section. The amount of herbs I minced made 8 cubes. Then it was time to get these babies in the freezer.

Sealing The Aroma

Now even though I have a heavy-duty covered ice cube tray, these herbs are certainly aromatic! I don’t want to take the chance that they will flavor other items in our freezer such as ice cream and such. So after I snapped the lid on the tray I then slipped a repurposed bread bag over the whole shebangie. A twist tie was used to close it up securely. Now all that’s left to do is wait for them to freeze.

When they were frozen solidly I brought them out of the freezer. A small spoon was used to gently pry the Herb-Bombs from the ice cube trays and they came out easily. Since the olive oil begins melting even with just the warmth of my skin I quickly placed the Flavor Bombs in a small zippered bag. A quick label & I returned them to the freezer.

The beauty of these Herb-Bombs is that you can adjust them to suit your taste. Want crushed red pepper in them? Add it! Want parsley in them? Add it! Whatever herbs you enjoy cooking with can be used with these Herb-Bombs. And since they’re ready & waiting right there in your own freezer, you have a healthy yet convenient flavor-aid right at your fingertips!

Fresh Herb & Olive Oil Herb-Bombs

Fresh herbs minced and frozen with olive oil in ice cube trays can be a quick flavor boost for rice or sauteed veggies. See my tutorial for these easy-to-make HERB BOMBS!

Authorwww.TexasHomesteader.com

Ingredients

Minced Ingredients:

2clovesgarlic

2TablespoonsFresh Rosemary,minced

1TablespoonFresh Sage,minced

1.5TablespoonFresh Thyme,minced

1.5TablespoonFresh Basil,minced

Instructions

Mince all herbs and mix together in a bowl. Mince or press 2 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl with the herbs. Pour enough olive oil to thoroughly coat and gently stir to incorporate all ingredients. Drop approximately 1 Tablespoon into each ice cube tray compartment. Press herbs down to compact contents and add a little additional olive oil if needed to cover herbs.

Cover ice cube tray securely to keep aromas from flavoring other items in the freezer and place tray in freezer until completely frozen. When thoroughly frozen remove from ice trays by gently prying with a small spoon if necessary and quickly place Flavored Herb Bombs in a labeled freezer container for future use.

Recipe Notes

To use, place a herb bomb in a bowl on the counter top until thawed and then stir into food to flavor. To use to flavor rice, drop herb-bomb in pan and use melting oil & herbs to saute brown rice for about 3-4 minutes, then cook & serve rice as usual. To use to flavor simmering soups or broth, drop frozen herb-bomb directly into simmering recipes to flavor as the broth cooks.

…and MUCH more

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I just made another batch for the freezer Mary. I usually use olive oil / minced garlic as a base, then add whatever minced herbs I want. This time I added fresh basil, thyme, sage & rosemary. What a powerful flavor punch! ~TMH~

Wow Karen, that would be awesome – YOU ROCK! I’ve updated the link in my post to this BPA-Free version –> http://amzn.to/29LYvS3

Another option might be these BPA-Free silicone trays. Although I had no trouble removing my Herb Bombs from my ice trays, it just seems like it would be easier to pop them out using silicone, whaddya think? These come in 2-pack –> http://amzn.to/29QMZFN

Thanks girl for your support, it means more than you know! (MUAH!) ~TMH~

OMGosh Amila, last night I used my last two Herb bombs with spiral-cut zucchini noodles and it was absolutely delicious, used what was going in the garden and cooked up in record time! The herb bombs sauteed the garlic, purple onions, orange bell pepper and thin summer squash coins, then I tossed in the ‘zoodles’ for just 1 minute and served topped with fresh chopped tomatoes. A healthy delight straight from the garden and so quick to cook! Today I’ll be making a new supply of herb bombs for sure! ~TMH~

That is so decent of you. I can’t thank you enough except to say that great minds think alike. As an avid gardener, I’ve been making Flavor Bombs for years, blogged about it years ago and now brought the concept to the marketplace. BTW, I was just in the great state of Texas, got to the fair and was at a convention meeting with buyers to get the product out West.
Many thanks, going to sign up for your newsletters. Gio

I am sorry to tell you that you can no longer use the name FLAVOR BOMBS. I have the trademark, the website and the product nationwide in stores so you are infringing on the name. Please use another term to describe your ice cube tray method. (By the way, that is how I developed the product, years in the making so I hope you can respect and appreciate the hard work and determination I have put in to make this a product now available in stores.
Please confirm receipt of this comment. Thank you. Gio Bellino

Hello, I have seen this before, but today it really hit home and I am going to make some for in my freezer for those long winter months! So sorry about your garden, we have had some years just like that ;o(
Blessings, Roxy

OMGosh Deborah, I’m hooked! I made some yesterday with coconut oil instead of olive oil. They seemed to be more temperature stable for transferring to bags for future use but I really want to try them in my cooking to see how they compare. ~TMR~